The Evolution Situation
by writingmyownhistory
Summary: Sheldon begins to notice Penny.


**Notes: Will eventually contain Sheldon/Penny, awkward first experiences, conversations with various parents/family members (because, IMO, no story is complete without Mary Cooper), and some smut. First piece for BBT. Will most likely contain heavy spoilers for seasons 2, 3, and 4 as well as some for season 5 (I haven't seen S5 but have some knowledge of what happens.) This basically goes AU after S3 because Sheldon only dates Amy for a brief period which is not seen in this fic, but is mentioned. _Unbeta'd._**

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**One**

It's a Friday when Sheldon first begins to notice miniscule aspects of Penny's personality. He's not sure, at first, if these are recent developments or if they've always been there and he has simply failed to pay attention to them until now.

That becomes very clear over the course of one evening that starts like any other.

They're HALO partners, as usual, squished together on the couch and unquestionably far ahead of Raj and Leonard. Howard has taken a break from playing and is instead busying himself with eating his way through a carton of leftover Lo Mein. After being around Penny's unpredictability for so long, Sheldon finally conceded to a proposal from all his friends - the idea that, sometimes, they could have an entire week of "anything can happen" days. Because Sheldon's habits die hard, these weeks are scheduled, occuring once a month. It's still unmistakably Sheldon-tainted, but it's a step towards...what, exactly? None of them know. Societal normalcy. Privately, they all suspect such efforts to conform in their own quirky way will become boring soon - Sheldon most of all.

Surprisingly, the arrangement has lasted for the better part of six months; Leonard seems less tense now, but in other ways, more so. Seeing Sheldon mellow out has been good for everyone, but Leonard in particular becomes uncomfortable spending this increased amount of time in Penny's company.

To Sheldon, there's not much difference between how frequently he sees Penny now and how often he used to. He supposes it's different for Leonard because of the romantic history he and Penny share. It makes him feel much better about his decision to break things off with Amy; seeing Leonard, Raj, Howard, and even Stuart suffer through their relationship troubles has made Sheldon come to his senses.

_No_, he has decided more firmly in recent months. _Romance is not meant for me_.

He has a great scientific mind and has long been aware of the chemical aspect of romance, sexual attraction, all of that - but the neither this chemical side and its effects, nor the emotional half, have ever truly appealed to him.

Sheldon is content with the friendships he sustains.

Even Amy was more comfortable when Sheldon finally said one day, "I vote we terminate our relationship." Amy agreed, saying it was in their best interests, not to mention the interest of science in general, that neither of them get sidetracked by romance or emotions. Since then, they've gone back to being friends; the fact that that dynamic exists to begin with is weird to everyone around them.

The first thing Sheldon takes note of, during a lull in their gameplay, is the way Penny bites her lip when she's concentrating on the movements onscreen. It's only when Sheldon pauses the game that he notices, out of the corner of his eye, that she had been chewing on her lip for the entire fifteen minutes they played, it having just been released from the grip of her teeth. Sheldon considers offering her some lip balm, but realizes that doing so would give away his awareness of this little habit of hers.

He's more socially observant than anyone close to him really knows. No matter how long they've known him, they can't seem to look past his quirks.

Penny is different somehow. She appreciates Sheldon for who he is, even if he's often irritatingly oblivious. It's part of his charm and Sheldon has managed to deduce that this is how she feels because, while she may express frustration and even anger sometimes, she treats Sheldon nicely the rest of the time. The others, well, they try, but Sheldon has realized that no one cares about his feelings in quite the same way that Penny does. He's come to realize the least he can do is try to return some caring gestures, more than he already has.

Hence these moments of observation. They started out as occasional studies of Penny's mannerisms but over time, they've become more frequent. Sheldon is picking up on this due to the increase in the number of times he has very nearly revealed how closely he is watching Penny. He figures it's only logical to assume the two correlate in some way.

"Penny?" He says finally as the background music for the video game plays in an endless loop. He reaches for the remote and turns the volume down a few notches before turning to look at the blonde beside him.

"Would you like to continue to play, or do you wish to observe our friends in their gaming adventures instead?"

She turns, studying him with the blank, glazed-over expression she has been known to acquire during long periods of time spent staring at television or computer screens. If Sheldon is being truthful, he has to admit they've all looked like that at one time or another.

"Um."

Sheldon sighs.

"That's hardly informative, Penny."

"Um," Penny mutters again, but seeing Sheldon's look of frustration, she hastens to utter a real sentence. "Let's...watch?" She leaves her reply hanging, implying that it's up to Sheldon, as most things are below the surface of their friendship.

Sheldon nods briskly, as businesslike in this endeavor as he is in everything else. "That's fine."

Penny smiles fondly at him. "Sheldon, you don't have to sound so..." She hunts for a word and finally settles on one, "...smart all the time, you know?"

Sheldon lets out a noise between a snort and a laugh. "Penny. You have said this more frequently than you would probably care to admit should you become aware of said frequency. Does the fact that I am significantly more academically-oriented than you make you feel uncomfortable in some way?"

Right there, Penny gives him credit for not saying "more intelligent". He's implying as much, but his willingness to put it this way hurts less than him stating it outright, as he has in the past. She's glad he has learned that much since they met.

"No!" She squeaks in indignation but Sheldon can tell she's lying and he smirks at her, which she responds to with an eyeroll.

Despite Sheldon's new awareness, very little has changed between them.


End file.
